Fastener inserting tools



Nov. 24; 1964 H. 'r. DECOT ETAL FASTENER INSERTING TOOLS 2 Sheets-Sheetl Inventors Harold 1" Decot Norman S Der/"ah By thez'rAttamey Wm w FiledDec. 10, 1962 Nov. 24, 1964 H. T. DECOT ETAL 3,157,884

FASTENER INSERTING TOOLS Filed Dec. 10, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v 111 F19. 2 6 H 3 64 0 2 XZ H 54 I United States Patent 3,157,884 FASTENERINSERTING TOOLS Harold T. Decot, Wenharn, and Norman S. Derrah, Lynn,

Mass, assignors to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Boston, Mass., acorporation of New Jersey Filed Dec. 10, 1%2, Ser. No. 243,343 11Claims. (Cl. 1-53) This invention relates to fastener inserting and moreparticularly to portable fastener driving tools which are adapted todrive one fastener at a time from a package containing a plurality offasteners closely assembled and uniformly oriented with respect to theirends.

Numerous portable hand tools or fastener guns are in use today and formany of them there have been developed special packs of preassembledfasteners. The majority of packages which were designed for use with aparticular driving tool are made with the primary object of assemblingthe greatest number of fasteners in the smallest length package.Generally this is accomplished by first producing so-called specialtyfasteners, i.e those generally not available in bulk and comprising aparticular flat or easily nested configuration. These specialtyfasteners, while they lend themselves to efiicient packaging areextremely costly to make when compared with the readily available bulktype fastener. Recognizing this limitation, we have developed a packagecontaining bulk type fasteners which are assembled with the maximumspecial eificiency. Our new package or cartridge pack as it is alsocalled, is disclosed in our copending application for United StatesLetters Patent Serial No. 231,223, filed October 17, 1962.

The application teaches how headed fasteners of the types readilyavailable in bulk, such as common, sinker and threaded shank nails,etc., may be oriented with respect to their ends and releasably securedby frangible means to the surface of a carrier strip. The heads of thefasteners are in shingled relationship and their shanks lie insubstantial parallelism in a common plane. The strip is constructed andthe fasteners positioned thereon so that movement of fastenerslengthwise of their axes will cause their heads to engage a cammingsurface on the strip to impart a lateral movement to the fasteners andapply tension to the frangible means securing them to the strip. Onefastener at a time is thus released from the strip without disturbingthe remaining fasteners.

It is an object of this invention to provide a simple tool for drivingfasteners from our new package or cartridge pack.

It is another object of this invention to provide a fastener insertingtool which, by a single stroke of a fastener driver, will remove onefastener from the cartridge pack, orient it with respect to the work,and fully drive it thereinto without touching or otherwise disturbingthe remaining fasteners in the package.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a driving toolwhich is capable of driving prepackaged fasteners of the bulk type whichmay be operated in any angular position.

It is another object of this invention to provide a driving tool forhandling fasteners packaged in the above described manner which iseconomical to manufacture and which may be operated with a minimumamount of skill on the part of an operator.

In accordance with these objects and as a feature of this inventionthere is provided in a driving tool for inserting fasteners having headsand shanks, raceway means for guiding fasteners uniformly oriented withrespect to their ends and with their shanks in a common plane to adriver which is movable along a predetermined path adjacent the racewayguiding means. Stop means located in the fastener plane positions onefastener at a time in the path of a driver. The driver is locatedlaterally adjacent and offset from the raceway and is angularly orientedrelatively thereto so that it intersects the fastener plane at an acuteangle measured in the direction of movement of the driver to engage onlya lateral portion of the head of each fastener. The raceway, driver andthe fastener stop are located with respect to each other and cooperateso that the axis of the driver is offset in two directions from the axisor particularly the center of the head of the fastener being driven, onebeing lengthwise of the plane which the assembled fasteners occupy andthe other being disposed laterally of said plane.

The above and other features of the invention including various noveldetails of construction and combinations of parts will now be moreparticularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings andpointed out in the claims. It Will be understood that the particulartool embodying the invention is shown by way of illustration only andnot as a limitation of the invention. The principles and features ofthis invention may be employed in varied and numerous embodimentswithout departing from the scope of the invention.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portable fastener inserting toolembodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line lI-II on FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III on FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken in the direction of the arrow IV onFIG. 2;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are sectional views similar to FIG. 3 showing, inprogression, a fastener being driven by the tool; and

HG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line VII-VII on FIG- 3.

The invention is illustrated as embodied in a multiple blow fastenerdriving tool seen in operative position in FIG. 1. The driving mechanismof this tool is similar to that disclosed in United States LettersPatent No. 2,879,- 509, issued March 31, 1959, to Congdon et al., towhich reference may be had for a more detailed description. It will beappreciated, however, that the invention may be embodied in numeroustypes and forms of tools of both single or multiple blow operation andthat the Congdon type tool is shown for illustrative purposes only.

Referring to FIG. 1, the tool includes a main body portion generallyindicated 2 and a nosepiece portion 4. A driver 6 extends from the body2 into the nosepiece 4. The nosepiece and main body are movablerelatively toward and away from each other on a rod 8 fixed to thenosepiece 4 and slidably received in a boss on the unseen side of thebody portion of the tool. A coil spring 19 surrounding the rod normallyurges the nosepiece 4 and body 2 away from each other. Compressed air isadmitted to the body 2 of the tool through a flexible tube 12 attachedto its handle 13. Upon depression of a trigger 14 a series of short,sharp blows are imparted to the driver 6 by a conventional air motor(not shown) within the body portion 2 of the tool.

As a nail or other fastener is being driven into a work piece from thenosepiece 4, the driver 6 is gradually moved by the operator into thenosepiece and through jaws 15 at its lower end with the body portion 2of the tool moving toward the nosepiece 4 which engages the work. Spurs16 extend from the nosepiece 4 to assist the operator in maintaining thenosepiece in firm engagement with the Work. During this process thespring 10 is being compressed and upon release of the tool from the workat the completion of the driving stroke the spring 10 urges the bodyportion 2 and nosepiece 4 apart. This tool may be provided with anauxiliary handle 17 secured to the nosepiece to assist an operator inpositioning the tool with respect to the work. Whereas the tool is showndriving a nail downwardly it will be understood that it may be operatedin any angular position, i.e., upwardly or horizontally etc. As thusdescribed the operation of the tool is similar to that disclosed in theCongdon et al, patent.

The nosepiece portion 4 of the tool is adapted to receive fastenerspackaged in the manner taught in our above-identified application. Asseen in FIGS. 1 and 3, fasteners, herein illustrated as nails N havingshanks S and heads H, are sewn or otherwise releasably secured to astrip 20 of fibrous material with their shanks S parallel and theirheads H in touching overlapped relationship. They are herein shown assecured by a line 22 of individual stitches 24, each stitch 24 holding aseparate nail. The strip 20 includes a sloping carnming surface 26 withwhich the head H of each fastener is engageable. The package offasteners as thus assembled in the manner taught in our application isalso referred to hereinafter as a cartridge pack CP.

As further taught in our application, when the head H of a nail is urgeddownwardly with respect to the can ming surface 26, it is cammed by thesurface to the right as seen in FIG. 3, applying tension to the stitch24 until it ruptures releasing the nail from the strip 20' so that itmay proceed through the jaws 15 and into the work.

Extending upwardly and rearwardly from the nosepiece 4 or to the rightas seen in FIG. 1, is a fastener guiding raceway 39 into which acartridge pack CP of nails has been loaded. The right-hand or trailingend of the cartridge pack CP is engaged by a movable follower 32 havinga finger gripping loop 34 fixed to it. The follower 32 is urged towardthe nosepiece 4 by a flexible coil spring 36 secured to it and passingaround a pulley 38 (FIGS. 2 and 3) located at the lower or left-hand endof the raceway 30. The opposite end of the flexible coil spring 36 isanchored to a rearward inner portion of the raceway at a point notvisible in the drawings. To load the tool an operator grips the fingerloop 34, withdraws the follower and inserts a cartridge pack CP in theraceway 30. He then replaces the follower 32 to urge the pack downwardlyof the raceway toward the nose piece 4.

The cartridge pack CP herein shown is one of a number illustrated in ourabove-identified application and has a lower leg or angled portion 42corresponding in general to the upper leg which has the camming surface26 formed on it. The cartridge pack CP is received within the raceway 30with the edge of the lower angled portion 42 in a guideway 44 (FIG. 4).The upper edge 45, i.e., that bounding the carnming surface 26, engagesa surface 48 on the raceway. A parallel surface 49 engages and guidesthe nail heads H. The guiding surface 4-9 terminates at a point 50 (FIG.2) where the raceway 36 enters the nosepiece 4.

The nosepiece 4 includes a transverse bore or driver passageway 52 intowhich the driver 6 extends, the axis of the bore and correspondinglythat of the driver being indicated by the axis line D. As seen in FIGS.3 and 5, the raceway also passes into the nosepiece 4 in close proximityto the driver passageway 52 but is oriented at an acute angle with theaxis D measured in the direction of driver movement.

At the upper intersection of the raceway 30 is a nail stop or abutment54 which is secured by a pin 56 fitted within the nosepiece 4. The nailstop 54 has on its lower left side, as viewed in FIG. 3, a slopingsurface 53 which is engageable with the camming surface 26 of thecartridge pack CP. Thus the cartridge pack CP is guided on its top edge45 by the guide surface 4% and the guide surface 49, which as statedabove, engages the nail heads H and terminates at the point 50.Thereafter, since the nails N are no longer present when the strip 29passes under the nail stop 54 the surface 26 of the pack is guided bythe surface 58.

The front or right-hand edge 59 of the stop 54 is the nail engagingsurface which, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 7, contacts the leading edge ofthe head H of the endmost nail 60 in the cartridge CP. It will be seenin FIG. 7 that the surface 59 extends along a line almost in alignmentwith the axis D of the driver 6. The stop 54 is also provided with anarcuate surface 64 which is, in effect, a curved partial cutout in theside of the stop to accommodate the driver 6 and permit it to pass thestop without touching it.

As seen in FIGS. 2 and 7, the nail stop 54 is positioned wholly outsideof the driver passageway but intersects the plane A which is defined bythe axes A of the individual nails N. At the beginning of the drivingstroke the axis D of the driver is not only spaced slightly from theaxis A i.e. center of the head H, of the endmost nail measured in itsdirection of movement, i.e. downwardly as seen in FIG. 7, but is offsetlaterally to the right of the axis A, or center of the head H, of theendmost nail and of the plane A which includes all of the axes. Thus,the driver 6 strikes about a quarter of the nail head H, engaging itsubstantially in the lower right-hand quadrant as viewed from above oras in FIG. 7. This assures that: first, the driver 6 can pass safelybeyond the head of the next-to-endrnost nail 62, and secondly, will notmove downwardly against the camming surface 26 of the cartridge pack CP,as the nail head H is cammed against the surface. In actual practice thedriver 6 may touch slightly the crest of the strip 26 as it passesthrough the individual valley 66 in the strip (FIG. 5) in which the nailis originally secured but this engagement is so slight as not to causemisalignment of the fibrous material of the cartridge pack GP or thenails remaining in it.

As stated above, the raceway 30 and hence the plane A containing theaxes A of the individual nails is cocked or offset at an acute anglewith the axis D of the driver measured in the direction of its movement.This assists in maintaining only the desired portion of the nail head Hin the path of the movement of the driver and assures that the fibrousnail strip 20 is out of the path of the driver 6. To accommodate thenail in this offset position and to assist it in entering the jaws 15 acamming surface 68 is formed in the nosepiece 4 adjacent the nailpassageway 52.

The tool operates as follows: With a cartridge pack CP inserted in theraceway 30 in the manner above described, the endmost nail 60 is locatedin the tool, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, with its head H in engagementwith the nail engaging surface 59 of the nail stop 54 and a substantialportion of its shank S lying in the driving chamber 52 either against orclose to the surface 68. Upon depression of the trigger 14 of the tool,a series of short, sharp blows is imparted to the driver 6 which underthe control of the operator is caused to descend upon the head H of thenail 60. As seen in FIG. 7, the driver will pass the next-to-endmostnail 62 without touching it and drive the endmost nail 60 downwardly. Inthe manner explained in our above-identified application when the head His urged downwardly of the camming surface 26 of the strip 20, the nailis cammed to the right as seen in FIG. 3 (the strip being firmly held bythe raceway 30 and the surface 58 of the stop 54) until the stitch 24ruptures whereupon continued downward movement of the driver urges thenail downwardly of the surface 68 and into the jaws 15, as seen in FIG.5, and ultimately throughout the jaws 15 into the work piece W, as seenin FIG. 6. After engaging the endmost nail 60 the driver 6 is inposition to prevent the next-toendmost nail 62 from entering the drivingchamber 52 or engaging the nail stop 54. Upon withdrawal of the driver6, however, the entire strip is free to move downwardly to the left asseen in FIG. 2 under the force of the spring 36 acting upon the follower$2 until the edge of the head H of the nail 62 engages the surface 59 ofthe nail stop whereupon the cycle may be repeated.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A tool for inserting fasteners having heads and shanks comprising, incombination, means for guiding fasteners for feeding movement with theirheads uniformly oriented and with their shanks in a common plane, adriver movable along a predetermined path adjacent the delivery end ofthe guiding means and laterally offset from said guiding means in adirection normal to the plane defined by the fastener shanks, and meansfor locating a portion of one fastener at a time in the path of saiddriver.

2. A tool for inserting fasteners having heads and shanks comprising, incombination, means for guiding fasteners for feeding movement with theirheads uniformly oriented and with their shanks in a common plane, adriver movable along a predetermined path adjacent the delivery end ofthe guiding means and intersecting the plane defined by the shanks at anacute angle, and means for locating a portion of one fastener at a timein the path of said driver to be driven thereby.

3. A tool for inserting fasteners having heads and shanks comprising, incombination, means for guiding fasteners with their heads uniformlyoriented and with their shanks in a common plane, means for moving thefasteners along said guiding means, a driver movable along apredetermined path adjacent the delivery end of said guiding means andlaterally offset from said guiding means in a direction normal to theplane defined by said fastener shanks, said driver path intersectingsaid plane at an acute angle measured from said palne, and means toposition one fastener at a time in the path of the driver.

4. A tool for inserting fasteners having heads and shanks comprising, incombination, a raceway for guiding fasteners with their heads uniformlyoriented and with the axes of their shanks defining a common plane, adriver movable along a predetermined path laterally offset from theraceway in a direction measured from the plane defined by said shanks,means for moving the fasteners along said raceway toward the driverpath, said raceway being angularly disposed with respect to the path ofthe driver when measured from the plane defined by said shanks topresent each fastener to the driver with the axis of its shank at anacute angle to the axis of the driver.

5. A tool for inserting fasteners having heads and shanks comprising, incombination, a raceway for guiding fasteners with their heads uniformlyoriented and the axes of their shanks defining a common plane, a drivermovable along a predetermined path adjacent the delivery end of theraceway, means for moving the fasteners along said raceway toward thedriver path, said raceway being oriented and offset from said driverpath in a direction measured from the plane defined by said shanks toposition each successive endmost fastener in the path of the driver withthe center of the head of the fastener spaced laterally from the axis ofthe driver path.

6. A tool for inserting fasteners having heads and shanks preassernbledin a package with their heads uniformly oriented with the axes of theirshanks in a common plane comprising, in combination, a raceway forguiding a package of fasteners, a driver movable along a predeterminedpath adjacent one end of said raceway, means for moving said package offasteners along said raceway toward said driver path, said raceway beingangularly oriented with respect to the driver as measured from the planedefined by the fastener shanks to present each fastener to the driverwith the axis of its shank at an acute angle with the driver measuredwith respect to said plane, and means engageable with the endmostfastener to locate only a portion thereof in the path of said driver.

7. A tool for inserting fasteners having heads and shanks preassembledin a package with their heads uniformly oriented and the axes of theirshanks in a common plane comprising, in combination, a raceway forguiding a package of fasteners for feeding movement, a driver movablealong a predetermined path, means for moving said package of fastenersalong said raceway toward said driver path, said raceway being locatedlaterally offset from the driver path in a direction normal to the planedefined by said fastener shanks to position the endmost fastener in thepath of the driver with the center of the fastener head spaced laterallyfrom the axis of the driver path with respect to said plane, and meansengageable with said endmost fastener to locate only a portion of itshead in the driver path and to maintain all other fasteners completelyout of said path.

8. A tool for inserting fasteners having heads and shanks preassembledin a package with their heads uniformly oriented and the axes of theirshanks in a common plane comprising, in combination, a raceway forguiding a package of fasteners, a driver movable along a predeterminedpath, means for moving said package of fasteners along said racewaytoward said driver path, said raceway being located laterally offsetfrom the driver path in a direction normal to the plane defined by saidshanks and a fastener stop adjacent the path of the driver and locatedin said plane, said stop having a surface engageable with each fasteneras it reaches said driver path to maintain only a portion of thefastener in the path of the driver.

9. A tool for inserting fasteners having heads and shanks preassembledin a package with their heads uniformly oriented and the axes of theirshanks in a common plane comprising, in combination, a raceway forguiding a package of fasteners, a driver movable along a predeterminedpath, means for moving said package of fasteners along said racewaytoward said driver path, said raceway being located laterally offsetfrom the driver path in a direction normal to the plane defined by saidshanks, and a fastener stop adjacent the path of the driver and locatedin said plane, said stop having a surface engageable with each fastenerin the package as it reaches said driver path to maintain only a portionof the fastener in the path of the driver measured in the direction ofmovement of said guided fasteners along said raceway, and a secondsurface slidably engageable with the fastener package as a guidingsurface cooperating with said guiding raceway.

10. A tool for inserting fasteners having heads and shanks preassembledin a package with their heads uniformly oriented and the axes of theirshanks in a common plane comprising, in combination, a raceway forguiding a package of fasteners, a driver movable along a predeterminedpath, means for moving said package of fasteners along said racewaytoward said driver path, said raceway being located laterally offsetfrom the driver path in a direction normal to the plane defined by saidshanks, and a fastener stop adjacent the path of the driver and locatedin said plane, said stop having a surface engageable with said fasteneras it reaches said driver path to maintain only a portion of thefastener in the path of the driver measured in the direction of movementof said guided fasteners along said raceway, and a concave surfacefacing said driver path of sufficient size to accommodate the driver.

11. A tool for inserting fasteners having heads and shanks preassembledin a package with their heads uniformly oriented and the axes of theirshanks in a common plane comprising, in combination, a raceway forguiding a package of fasteners, a driver movable along a predeterminedpath, means for moving said package of fasteners along said racewaytoward said driver path, said raceway being located laterally offsetfrom the driver path in a direction normal to the plane defined by saidshanks, and a fastener stop adjacent the path of the driver and lo- '5 Scated in said plane, said stop having a surface engageable concavesurface facing said driver path of sufiicient size with each fastener asit reaches said driver path to maint accommodate th d i tain only aportion of the fastener in the path of the driver measured in thedirection of movement of said References ited in the file of this patentguided fasteners along said raceway, a second surface m slidablyengageabie with the fastener package as a guid- UNPED STATES PATENTS ingsurface cooperating with said guiding raceway, and a 3,012,247 Sdlars eta1. Dec. 12, 1961

1. A TOOL FOR INSERTING FASTENERS HAVING HEADS AND SHANKS COMPRISING, INCOMBINATION, MEANS FOR GUIDING FASTENERS FOR FEEDING MOVEMENT WITH THEIRHEADS UNIFORMLY ORIENTED AND WITH THEIR SHANKS IN A COMMON PLANE, ADRIVER MOVABLE ALONG A PREDETERMINED PATH ADJACENT THE DELIVERY END OFTHE GUIDING MEANS AND LATERALLY OFFSET FROM SAID GUIDING MEANS IN ADIRECTION NORMAL TO THE PLANE DEFINED BY THE FASTENER SHANKS, AND MEANSFOR LOCATING A PORTION OF ONE FASTENER AT A TIME IN THE PATH OF SAIDDRIVER.